Videos

On the ferry: It's a Knockout

Evening Activities

Goat farm

Quicksand, Mont Saint-Michel

Photos

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

D-Day

Today we went to the 360-degree cinema to see a film about D Day itself, which was incredibly moving.

We visited the German bunkers and batteries, which for their age were in exceedingly good condition even though one of them had had a nasty beating. A couple of us uncovered a secret living quarter underground.

We have now visited three different cemeteries. Each had their own layout. The German cemetery grouped crosses in fives. The British and Commonwealth cemetery had tombstones. There we tried to find our ancestors in the graves. For our last activity, we visited the American cemetery, which was stunning with marble crosses and stars.

We have thoroughly enjoyed this trip thanks to all the following teachers: Mr Dean, Mr Stein and Mrs Gallegillo.

Tom F, Max and Luca

Mont Saint-Michel

We had a long journey on the coach to Mont Saint-Michel. On arrival we were allowed to look at the shops for half an hour to buy souvenirs before we had a tour around the sands. There were massive patches of quicksand which we really got stuck into! Max had a passion for jellyfish - he picked at least five up. The guide talked us through how the two islands were used in different ways. Some of us had taken our shoes and socks off to walk in the quicksand and so suffered the consequence when crossing the hard jagged rocks.

We then went all the way to the top of the steep hill and went to the church which was built on top. We looked at the view from the top and we got shushed by a French woman. It was amazing how it was built on top of the jagged island. We looked around the crypt and saw how the pillars played an important role in supporting the church. There was a room with a massive wheel for bringing up supplies - it felt like it was underground even though it had a great view of the island.

We went back to the market to have another look around and Jonny lost his tooth by eating Churros but they were lovely! Then we walked back to the bus and had another long drive back to the chateau.

Josh nearly died at dinnertime from eating snails and frogs' legs with sauce. Some of us found them delicious - especially Jonny!

Ayo, Jonny, Josh and Benedict

Cherbourg

Today we went to La Cité de la Mer in Cherbourg. They had a number of experiences. First we went to have a look around the nuclear submarine - one of the only ones in the world the public can look around. It was very intriguing and huge - on the audio talk the captain was talking about the submarine including how they lived for 70 days at a time. They had an unlimited water supply - at the end we saw the missiles and the cabins - there was more firepower in two missiles than in both world wars. There was a game where you got to drive a nuclear submarine.

After that we had lunch and then we went around the aquarium and stroked the sharks and stingrays and saw Europe's deepest fish tank. There were loads of tropical fish and jellyfish.

We went to the Titanic exhibit and stayed for a short time because we had to go to the simulation (Mr Dean went the wrong way as a French man gave him the wrong directions and Tom C tried to fly and ended up in a puddle). The simulation was great fun and we became famous in the fake newspapers. The main highlight was Coleman and Ayo dipping their feet in the water.

We returned to the Titanic exhibit and watched what it would be like to stand on the deck of the ship as it sank. We also learnt Morse code and how to control the ship's steering.

On the way home we stopped off at a German World War II graveyard and there were over a thousand men buried there as well as memorials.

We arrived home and had dinner followed by learning about crêpes. After that we played Egg Pro and really enjoyed it. It helped us learn that you are only as strong as your weakest link. It was a series of games where we had to protect an egg in a box – no one kept their egg safe. At the end we cracked the spare eggs on the instructor’s head.

Callum, Niyi, Tom C and Coleman

A market, a tapestry and some goats

We got up and had breakfast - we had pain au chocolate and cereal. We went to Bayeux and we popped in to the cathedral to have a look and some of the choir boys sang in the crypt. Then we headed up through the busy streets to the market. At the market there were lots of things such as fish, sausage, sweets and fresh fruit. They also had souvenirs and good crepes and live crabs and lobsters. After we visited the market we went to the Bayeux Tapestry. It is nearly 70 metres and all embroidered in great detail and it describes the Norman conquest of England in 1066.

After that we went on a long coach ride to the goat farm. Once there, we had a talk from the farmer in French and we watched a short movie of the farm. We went into the barn and learned about the experience of the goats. We now know how to milk a goat! We groomed them and one of the kids walked across our backs! Ayo rode on the buck's back and later we got a free sample of goats' cheese. At the end we were able to buy some cheese.

When we got back to the chateau we had a dinner of boeuf bourgignon and we danced and had a talent show which James won. It was an amazing day - it will be a tough one to beat.

Harry, Robert, Sam, Alex and James

A day of travelling

It was an early start at 4.15am. We set off on an exiting journey to the ferry at Portsmouth. The journey took two hours. We got there about 7am and we got onto the ferry at 8am but the ferry left at 8.15am. The ferry had lots of entertainment and activities such as arcades, dancing competitions (the entertainment manager was called J Dean, but the J stood for Jason) - there was plenty of food and the deck was accessible. The crossing took six hours but before we knew we were at Caen.  We then got on the coach the  driver, George, took us to Pegasus Bridge where we went to a museum and got some souvenirs. We took the bus to the chateau where we were greeted by the staff and we had to take our shoes off L.  We had to go through some safety regulations. We had dinner which was Normandy Pork and apple tart for dessert. We then had a quiz and headed back to our rooms very tired after a long day. What a night!

Kota, Ben, Oliver and Joseph

A quick post from Portsmouth

After a good journey to the port, we have now left Portsmouth! More later...

Introduction

This blog will follow the trip to Normandy from Bickley Park School which will run from Friday 19 to Tuesday 23 October 2012. We hope to keep it updated with news and photos, so keep looking!